and daughter mingled their cries, and wept, || my information, to proceed, not with the in pity more for each other than for them-wing of fancy, but with the plume of plain selves; but their agony was drowned by the roar of the flood, and the crowd at the ferry were too much absorbed in their own views, and too distant had it been otherwise, to afford them aid. matter-of-fact. In short, then, Captain S- used every means in his power to win the love of Yamma. He corresponded with her through the medium of fakiers, or religious mendicants, and fortune-tellers. He loved her to distraction; he offered to marry her; for S― had a soul too noble to ruin the object of his adoration. She listened to the magic of his addresses; she forgot all the customs of her tribe; she afforded her lover opportunities of seeing her: he visited her in the disguise of a Hindoo astrologer, and she agreed to leave father and mother and follow him for life. Unfortunately they were discovered, and so promptly followed by three stout and well-armed Parsees, that S was nearly killed in an unequal contest to preserve his prize; and poor Yamma was returned to her enraged and disgraced family. The reader may conceive her terror and confusion-how she protested her purity and innocence-how she was disbelieved and upbraided-how S-stormed and raved-how he offered her family every reparation that an honourable man could make, and how they spurned his terms with contempt and indignation. At this awful moment Captain S— was galloping from the fort; and, hoping|| that he should be in time to cross the rocks, he made directly for the course of the hackery, saw the life-struggle of the men, heard the piercing cry for help by the women, and plunged in to their assistance. His horse was a strong, docile Arab, and Captain S―, being exceedingly fond of field sports, had accustomed him to swim rivers, and even the lower part of this ferry, though a quarter of a mile wide. The horse, therefore, swam as directed to the hackery, and Captain S—— having perfect confidence in his strength and steadiness, placed the daughter, who was as light as a fairy, before him, and with the mother clinging behind, gained the shore in safety, while the hackery and bullocks were swept away by the force of the tide. The terror of the animals preventing their effectual struggle, destroyed them; for, a moment after the perilous escape of the ladies, the hackery was upset, and the bullocks were He cannot, however, so easily picture drowned. what followed; for he may not have beMany battles and dangers require a lon-lieved or known that such scenes occur in ger time in description than in action. It was just so in this case. Short, however, as the time had been, a crowd was gathering, and not only the ladies, but all tongues were loud in thanking Captain S for his gallant conduct. Meanwhile, he The heads of the tribe were assembled, gazed on Yamma with wonder, and she on and an oath of secresy having been taken, him with grateful surprise. Many of the the fair Yamma was introduced arrayed as Parsees have fair complexions, and Yam- a bride, and decorated as the daughter of ma's was transparently so: indeed she the rich jeweller, Limgee Dorabjee. After looked, though pale with fright, and drip- certain ceremonies, her mother and grandping with brine, so much like Venus rising mother approached her, where she sat like from ocean's bed, that S pronounced a beautiful statue, and presenting a poisonher in his own mind the loveliest of crea-ed bowl and a dagger, said, in a firm tonetion. He galloped to the fort, procured" Take your choice." "Farewell, mother! palankeens, and saw the fair Parsees con- Farewell, father! Farewell, world!" reveyed home in safety. I wish, for Captain S- -'s sake-I wish for the sake of a happy termination to my story-that his acquaintance with Yamma had here terminated; but I am impelled, by the laws of history, and the nature of the world. Well, I must briefly describe it-No-I cannot dwell upon it-I will hurry over it, merely sketching the outline, and turning with horror even from my own faint colours. plied the heroic Parsee daughter, taking the deadly cup; "fate ordained that this should be Yamma's marriage "—and she drained its contents! Her leaden eyes were watched till they closed in death: she was then stripped, arrayed as a corpse, and conveyed to the receptacle of the dead, as Away went horse and rider-far behind I have described. ran the groom. He heard the hoof thunder on the ground and his master's voice urging his spirited steed towards the foaming surf-then a loud explosion as of breaking billows-and, on gaining the sea-shore he saw a black point on the stormy surface of the ocean, but he never saw the brave S- and his Arab more. VILLAGE SKETCHES. TAKEN FROM LIFE. “Imagination fondly stoops, to trace A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day: MY GRANDMOTHER. My grandfather was a farmer in Derbyshire who cultivated an estate, consisting of a hundred acres, which had descended to him from his ancestors. The village in which he dwelt was a compact one, composed of four streets which ran out from a centre, and in this centre was a square cross, formed of large rude stones; the second story being laid within the first, and the third terminating in a single block. The population of the village included several farmers, inferior to my grandfather; a parish clerk, who cobbled shoes six days in the week, said "Amen" on Sundays, and taught children to read and write in the church in the evenings; and an old schoolmistress, who was an excellent sempstress. Besides these, were those necessary appendages to a village, a publichouse and a shop; the former of which sold ale only; the latter eatables, wearing apparel, hardware, and drugs for men and cattle. Labourers, with their families, made up the remainder of the inhabitants of the village. At a small distance from it were a 'squire and a rector; but, though their habitations were near, they and their families were at an immeasurable distance from the villagers; none of whom ever "-GOLDSMITH. passed them without taking off his hat, or stopping to drop a curtsy. My grandfather was a ruddy, handsome young man, of greater polish than his neighbours; for he had been to London, and, on Sundays, wore a cravat, the ends of which were fringed, and hanging on his breast: in a word, he "at church and at market was reckoned a beau." At market, he met with a beautiful young woman, whom he loved, wooed, married, and con ducted to the paternal mansion. It is true it was still occupied by his father and mother, and two unmarried sisters: but these formed no obstacle; it was the custom of the village for fathers and mothers to retain their station; for where could they go? the land which had hitherto supported them must sustain them still, and the sons must wait their turn to be master. My grandmother was cordially received by the parents of her husband, and she proved a great acquisition to the family; for her prudence, industry, and good temper were equal to her beauty. Though the daughter of a farmer, she had had the advantage of a good education; for, living only a mile distant from the county town, she had there learned to read and write at one school; to embroider muslin, and work silken strawberries on canvas purses at another; and to raise fabrics and make flourishes in pastry at a third: yet, with || all these attainments, she made no innovation, suggested no improvement, in the house of her husband's family; but performed her share of the domestic duties in the precise way they had been performed by his mother. Indeed, her discretion was such, that though she wore a muslin head, and laced pinners, on a Sunday, she never|| carried her head above her neighbours; and though her manteau was of the finest faradine, she never looked down on their camblet. occupations of men-servants and maid-servants, pigeons and cheese, wheat, malt, and apples. My grandmother added a handsome parlour to the family mansion, with a handsome chamber over it, and placed beds in both; in the former for the accommodation of her husband and herself; in the latter for that of a guest. For the first time, in that house, beds had four posts, and were wholly surrounded by curtains. These, which were of woollen, with the blankets, bed-linen, and ticken, were spun on domestic wheels, and the feathers were furnished by home-bred geese. Nothing, for family use, was imported that the productions of the farm, aided by household labour, could supply. Bread was made from the wheat of the land, malt from the barley, cheese and butter from the cows; poultry and eggs were taken from the farm-yard, and hogs from the stye. Wine was unknown, and tea was not to be found. Rich cake was always in the house, and this, with mead made from the honey of the hives, or a posset milked under the cow, was given to visitors. I must not omit a circumstance in which the information of my grandmother shewed itself superior to that of the family with which she was incorporated. All had heard of tea-as who had not? but none had seen it. In the absence of my grandmother, a pound of tea, a present from a friend, arrived from London. The daughters were impatient to taste it; the mother said, “I know nothing about it, I cannot cook it; let it be till Sarah comes home." The curiosity of the daughters, however, was not to be repressed; they slily took a Clothing was derived from the same handful, which they boiled in a kettle, and, source as provisions. The linen of the after draining the water from it, they but- family was supplied by the flax of the tered and ate it; at the same time de- farm, the outer garments by the fleeces of claring to each other that tea was the the flocks, and all was spun at home. worst stuff they had ever tasted in their Hats and shoes, cravats, caps, and handlives. My grandmother, at her return, set || kerchiefs alone were purchased. I must all right by discarding the tea-leaves, in- not, however, for the honour of my family, stead of the water in which they had been forget to mention, that my three aunts, boiled, and filling the porringers of the when grown up, were the first in the vilfamily with the bitter decoction, ameliorat- || lage to wear gowns of printed linen. Beed with sugar and cream. fore this time, their gowns of fine scarlet || stuff of their own spinning, and their black velvet hoods, had produced a great sensation among the daughters of the other farmers; but when the linen gowns, with large stripes of blue flowers, appeared at church, they created general envy and astonishment. In process of time death carried off the father and mother, and husbands carried off the daughters. My grandmother, now sole mistress of the mansion, began to turn her thoughts towards its improvement. || The house was composed of wood and plaster, and covered with thatch. It contained five rooms on the ground-floor,|| ranged along the farm-yard like a rank of soldiers; the left-hand man next to the "town street," and from the right ran an excrescence called the buttery. Stairs there were, which led to chambers above; but some were ill lighted; others quite dark; and all were open to the beams and the thatch. These were in the several Even the 'squire's lady viewed them with some displeasure, as she stood up in her pew; and afterwards said, as her maid, Mrs. Busy, told my aunt Mary, she wondered what farmers' daughters would come to. Time rolled on till my grandmother was left a widow, my three aunts were married, and my two uncles settled on farms at some distance; each child having received a portion of one hundred pounds, and a large stock of homespun linen; the family estate being reserved clear for my father. This was the time for him to marry; but the young woman of his choice made some scruples to enter a house in which she should not be mistress. My grandmother gave way to this unusual instance of fastidiousness, and exchanged the dominion, which should have lasted for life, for an annual pittance which would not have maintained her in a lodging. Happily, her daughter-in-law gave her no cause for removal or repentance. MY MOTHER. My father brought his bride home on his mare and his pillion; and she was found to be a neat little woman, in a dark blue camblet habit of her own spinning, with vellum button-holes, covered with silver thread. My father, on this momentous occasion, wore a suit of broad-cloth, and the first pair of boots which had entered the family. Mistress though my mother was, and also mistress of some refinement, her proceedings were regulated by due respect for the feelings of my grandmother. In what was called "the house," that is the spacious room in which the family lived throughout the day, my mother left the dresser with drawers, and the rows of pewter, from the dish which held the sirloin || to the plates from which it was eaten, that || shone above it. She left the four-legged oaken table, from which the servants dined in the presence of their master and mistress; each continuing to eat his broth from a wooden noggin, or little pail, and cutting his meat on a wooden trencher, with a clasp knife taken from his pocket. This table never moved from the wall, and attached to it were some buffets, or high oaken stools, which were drawn from under it, for the servants' seats at meal times, and shoved under it when the meal was ended. My grandmother left in the place it had occupied for ages, an oaken table far more ponderous, which moved only, with the pewter plates and dishes, at Christmas and the wake, when all the collateral branches of the family assembled in the family mansion. been expected from the silver button-holes, my mother began her improvements. She took the scanty curtains, of thick and ancient woollen, from her own bed, converted them into carpets, and supplied their place with curtains of blue-and-white striped linen, spun by her own hand. She had a recess in the house formed into a closet, in which she placed her tea china, her silver cream jug, and her plates and dishes of earthenware. My father, however, set his face manfully against the earthen plates, so far as they regarded himself, and it was many years before he could be persuaded to part with his trencher. A heavy oaken arm-chair, which was probably coeval with the mansion, and had, for the same length of time, claimed the chimney-corner as its right, was deprived of its dignity by my mother, and placed behind the door, to make way for an upstart couch called a squab. My mother always liked to be like other people; and it happened that the wife of a farmer in the village, whose estate consisted of only fourscore acres, had lately got a squab in her chimney-corner; a squab was, therefore, declared by my mother to be indispensable. I cannot help suspecting, however, that in addition to the necessity of being like other people, my mother had a secret motive; for she had, in her maiden days, formed a magnificent piece of patchwork, composed of stars and circles of silk and velvet, which exactly covered the cushion and bolster of the squab. My grandmother did not see the removal of the chair, in which her father-in-law and her husband had dozed away their latter days, without some concern; but she was too wise to complain; and she was somewhat comforted to see that the langsettle, an ancient oaken seat, with high back and solid arms, and capable of accommodating three persons, was permitted to retain its station in the family apartment. tors. Though tea, with all its appendages, was formally introduced, it made no part of the family aliment, but was provided for visiPosset was forgotten, and mead was discarded for wine, which, with the rich cake, was served at the entrance of the guests; a bottle of port, and one of mounHaving made these concessions, which,|| tain, being always kept in the house for perhaps, were full as great as could have this purpose. The spinning-wheel was not laid aside, but it did not move with its former activity. It supplied the house with bed and tablelinen, and my father, to the day of his death, refused to wear a shirt of bought cloth, even at church; but silk and cotton, in great variety, were seen on the persons of my mother and her daughters; and homespun woollen was not worn by my father, or his sons. After the death of my grandmother, the buttery was called the dairy, and the adjoining room, which had been appropriated to washing, brewing, baking, and auxiliary cooking, at good times, by a fire of sticks on the hearth, was denominated the kitchen, and made the domicile of the servants. The oaken chair underwent a farther exile, and was sent hither; its last remove towards the fire. My father did not altogether like to see his ploughman || in the seat of his ancestors; but it being the custom of our family, from time immemorial, for the husbands to let their wives do what they pleased, he did not oppose it. In due time, I and my sisters married, and my two younger brothers took wives and farms in the neighbourhood; my father giving each of us a portion of five hundred pounds. He died soon after, having been severely injured by a fall from his horse. My brother did not wait long before he married a young woman to whom he had been some time attached: but my mother did not see the expediency of giving up the farm to a son, on his marriage, which she had seen when she married herself; she therefore kept the reins in her own hand. This was greatly to the mortification of my sister-in-law, who had even hesitated some days before she consented to marry my brother; but her fortune being small, and her person not very attractive, she thought it prudent not to carry her scruples too far. Every year I visited the paternal mansion, and was cordially welcomed by my mother and brother. No alteration appeared; for the most powerful of all reasons that none could be made without my mother's consent. The same hospitality prevailed: every cousin who came to visit was offered a bed; every man who entered the house had ale set before him; and every woman cheesecake and cowslip wine. I did not, however, quite like the looks of my sister-in-law, who was frequently troubled with head-aches; and, at such times, she would sit silent, leaning her head on her hands, during several hours. At length I lost my beloved and respectable mother, and circumstances, over which I had no control, prevented me from visiting my native village for some years. MY SISTER-IN-LAW. As soon as it was in my power, I went into Derbyshire. Ah! said I to myself, as I approached the village, there is the church in which reposes the dust of my ancestors! Under that roof lie all that remains of my father, my mother, and a long line of progenitors to me unknown. There, not far distant, in its park, inclosed by pales, is the hall, which once appeared to me as the summit of architectural grandeur. Its inmates were, in my apprehension, a race of superior beings; and now, by one of the common turns of fortune, how nearly do we approximate! How the people I pass bow to my carriage as to theirs! As I advanced, here, said I, is the old sign of the coach and horses, the symbol of the landlord's former profession, when he lived with the 'squire, and the invitation hung out to the tipplers and newsmongers of the village. And there is the cross, the summer resort of the aged and the idle, and the rendezvous of the young and active, when the labour of the day, and the athletic sports which succeeded it, were ended. The village seemed nearly in the state in which I had left it, till, on turning a corner, I saw that a bow-window had sprung from the dwelling of my fathers, and the sober grey paling, which divided the farm-yard from the town street," had become a bright red. The sound of the carriage brought out my brother, who received me affectionately. His wife, who was standing in the passage, in slatternly attire, thought only of apologizing for her dress. As I proceeded along the passage, "Ah!" said I, looking on my right, "there are the wellknown, and well-remembered kitchen and dairy, which have sent forth such a profusion of good things." Then turning to |